[Conditions] Canyons around Pasadena

[lucach]

Does anyone know how are conditions for Bailey, Little Santa Anita & Eaton?
Going to do some canyons this weekend with beginners.

Thanks

[deagol]

watch out for poison Oak. You can get it even when the leaves are off. It sucks....

[canyonfodder]

Hey, let us know how it goes! We're thinking of doing some of those in a couple weeks, and we're not sure what to expect.

[Canyonater]

Just did Rubio yesterday via the East Fork drop in above Leontine Falls. It was very brush free as usual, water trickling at all the way down to Thalehaha Falls. Thalehaha was exceptionally slippery. Water is unavoidable in some spots. Some webbing is close to needing replacement. The rapide at the hanging pothole stage of Leontine Falls is jammed sideways with the nut stuck in the hanger. I couldn't free it to replace it. Bring something to knock it loose before dropping down into the pothole.


Josephine Creek last week was nice, dropped in via the culvert that goes under the road. Watch out for biting ants and poison oak throughout the canyon. Found one small poodle dog at the bottom of the 180er at the end. Also the tree that anchors the 60ft rap is barely hanging on. Only half the tree is rooted in the ground and can be moved side to side by hand. It is still a good anchor because the drop is low angle and even if it were to fall over somehow the tree is massive and wouldn't go anywhere.



A friend of mine did LSA yesterday, minimal water, watch out for poison oak. One of the bolts at the last rappel has broken so there is only one bolt. It is a small drop, downclimbable by most, if not a meat anchor is prudent except for last man down. Not sure the condition of the remaining bolt.

Bailey was also done by another friend on Saturday. Nothing special was said, again watch out for poison oak. I have ran into a few rattlers in this canyon myself so keep a watchful eye.

I did Eaton last July and it was a trickle.....I haven't heard of anyone running it since then, In fact most seem to be waiting for the water levels to rise but with this drought I would imagine it is still pretty dry.

Another friend just did Fall Creek 2 days ago and there was actually a good amount of water there.

[lucach]

I did Eaton last July and it was a trickle.....I haven't heard of anyone running it since then, In fact most seem to be waiting for the water levels to rise but with this drought I would imagine it is still pretty dry.

Another friend just did Fall Creek 2 days ago and there was actually a good amount of water there.

Thanks for the update!

We ended up doing Bailey on Saturday. The idea was to have my friends practice in dry conditions. In fact it was COMPLETELY dry! What a shitty canyon, every time I do it I promise myself I'll never go back....
But with 15 bolted drops it was perfect practice for me and my friends (who will be doing Sa Fosca in March at the international rendezvous). We split in groups of 2 and had every group set up every single drop all the way to the bottom pretending high water, tangled ropes and other hazard conditions. Never saw the other group, we ended in the dark, but that was intentional (Sa Fosca goes underground for 1/2 its length!).

On Sunday we decided to go test the wesuits and did Lower Eaton. It was a bit of algae but it was pretty good. It was flowing with decent flow (it was not a trickle) but it was coldest water I have ever experienced without a dry suit! Even colder than some glacier fed Italian Alp canyons. It was a good test for the wetsuits, some of us were a bit cold and shivering, I had a 5/3mm and it was barely enough, if we stopped we would have had problems.

Have any of you done Hastings? It is adjacent to Bailey, I see people in ucanyon give it 4 stars (like Eaton) but the pictures look like crap. Maybe we will go do that one in Feb.

Thanks again for the update

[lucach]

I saw a picture of going down a pipe in your post... is that in Rubio? Where? Thanks

[Mojave Silence]

I saw a picture of going down a pipe in your post... is that in Rubio? Where? Thanks

The pipe/culvert is above the road from the standard drop-in for Josephine creek. Hasting's = "Bailey's red headed step child.". Most interesting part of that route is the off-trail approach past the Bailey drop-in, really pretty oak grove. The canyon itself is nothing special, gets very little water and a year ago was choked full of brush and poison oak everywhere including unavoidable spots on rappel. Your ropes will get covered. If you really want to do something else in that area, the next one west of Hastings, Pasadena Glen is a better option.

[Eric Holden]

I don't remeber seeing a pipe going down Rubio, so my guess is that it on the Josephine creek.


"Found one small poodle dog at the bottom of the 180er at the end."
On a side note I just found out what "Poodle dog" is. Finding an actual poodle dog at the bottom of a canyon would be saddening :(

[canyonfodder]

Thanks for the info on Rubio! Anything additional that beginners should look out for in that canyon?

[Eric Holden]

Thanks for the info on Rubio! Anything additional that beginners should look out for in that canyon?

Don't do this....

[Canyonater]

Rubio is a good beginner canyon. Very short if you take the shortcut up the east ridge and do it as a loop. I will try to explain the approach, use at your own discretion. I believe ucanyon.com has a gpx file of this approach as well. Start at the exit trailhead as this will be done as a loop. Take the trail up the drainage, soon you will see a trail to the left going up the mountain, skip this one. Eventually you will arrive at a somewhat open area with a distinct canyon opening on the left of the drainage. This is the last rappel in Rubio. Continue taking the drainage on the right, it is littered with small fist sized rocks, not the larger ones you've been seeing previously. Almost immediately you will see a use trail to the left. This will take you to an overlook of the last rappel. Skip this and continue on up for about 5 more minutes until the steep wall on your left drops down exposing another easily identifiable trail. Take this well defined trail to the ridge overlooking Thalehaha falls (should only take about 5 minutes, if not you are on the wrong trail). From here its and easy to follow the trail along the ridge. Eventually you will encounter a fork left, if you descend this fork it will drop you into Rubio just below Leontine Falls confluence. This trail will have fixed handlines all the way down as identification. Skip this one until the next fork left (which usually has a piece of webbing tied to a branch). This one will drop down a scree slope just above the wonderful 140ft Leontine Falls. There is one small 20ft rappel before the actual 2 stage falls. The second stage can be done with one 200ft rope, just barely, verify first or use some webbing to extend the pull. Car to car should take no more than 4 hours with a small group.

[Canyonater]

Oh, Thalehaha falls in the video is exceptionally slippery right now, I would suggest a sliding start on it or you could slip and fall before getting the rope laid down.